Staging Stigma A Critical Examination of the American Freak Show

by Chemers, Michael M.; Ferris, Jim

• ISBN13: 9780230610668
• ISBN10: 0230610668
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Staging Stigma is a captivating excursion into the bizarre world of the American freak show. Chemers critically examines several key moments of a performance tradition in which the truth is often stranger than the fiction. Grounded in meticulous historical research and cultural criticism, Chemers' analysis reveals untold stories of freaks that will change the way we understand both performance and disability in America. This book is a must-have for serious students of freakery or anyone who is curious about the hidden side of American theatrical history.

Author Biography

Michael M. Chemers is Assistant Professor of Dramatic Literature and the founding Director of the Production Dramaturgy Program at Carnegie Mellon University. His work on freak shows has appeared in Modern Drama, the New England Theatre Journal, the Journal of Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, Theatre Forum, and Disability Studies Quarterly, for which he has also served as an editor.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction: The Ugly Word	p. 1
Staging Stigma	p. 11
Prurience and Propriety	p. 27
Enlightenment and Wonder	p. 57
Pathology and Prodigy	p. 85
Exploitation and Transgression	p. 103
Conclusion: God's Own Artwork	p. 131
Notes	p. 141
Works Cited	p. 149
Index	p. 159
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